Unadulterated Bliss
Chapter 13: Dinner
Once the couple passed through the doors, they were swept into a faerie-sunset. Fall being the season of appetite, there were tables scattered round with beautiful place settings, and pieces. Everything was a swirl of reds, oranges, and yellows. The spacious room exuded warmth and welcome. They reached their table and sat down. In the regular fashion of things, once someone announced what they wanted to their plate a small pop would occur and their meal would appear.
Ginny ordered a pasta dish, and Draco ordered several portions of steak and potatoes, and left the broccoli alone. During dinner, Ginny considerably relaxed, partially because they were eating, and there was no time to be romantic; but the other part was because Draco, when eating was extremely devoted to his food, and the ingesting of as much of it, as quickly as possible, which evidently left no room for romance, especially when he was forced to speak around mouthfuls.
"How much are you going to eat?" She marveled, when he attacked his third steak with zeal. "I mean, after you're done, are you going to eat our lovely centerpiece too?"
Draco eyed the centerpiece for a moment, and shook his head. "Nah, no way I'd pass up this stuff" he motioned his steak again, "for some fruit. Fake fruit, at that." And with a grateful sigh of contentment, resumed eating.
Shaking her head in amazement, Ginny saw her friend Sylvia walking towards her. Sylvia came from another old wizarding family, but unlike the Weasley's, they had heaps of money, and they weren't afraid to spend it. "Ginny!" she cried, "Oh my goodness! You look gorgeous! Where'd you get that dress?"
"Actually, I made it" Ginny replied.
"Really? Why?"
"Well, as you know my dad just loves his job, and he refuses all the promotions they offer him, so we can't afford a lot of things. And I found that fabric and some thread is a lot cheaper than buying a finished dress."
"You are something else. Well, you look fab-u-lous so I suppose making your own dress is a good thing after all. But you know Gin, if you came shopping with me, I could've loaned you the money. It would've been no trouble at all," she waved her hand out airily. "In fact," she tittered, "I could've bought you a whole wardrobe of them, if you really wanted. Anything for my friends," she added stoutly. "Anyways, gotta run. I was on my way to the witches room, when I saw you; and just had to come over. I'll see you later, I'm sure. Ta-ta dahling!"
With a little laugh, Ginny took a sip from her pumpkin juice, and noticed something peculiar: perfect silence. No crunching, no munching, not even a little chomping. If she couldn't see him through the corners of her eyes, she'd say Draco had left. Wheeling her head around, afraid he'd choked, she looked at him. He sat stock still, staring at her with the most serious expression. He didn't seem angry or upset, just serious. It was most unsettling. Curious, she reached out a hand, and tapped him on the arm.
"Draco? Are you alright?" She gave him a nervous smile, "Is there something wrong with the meat? Or," she gave a tiny laugh, "did the fourth piece just catch up to you?"
He returned from wherever he was, and smiled reassuringly at her. More like a boyish grin that made her beam back at him, like one does to a boy who, after much shuffling around, tells you he likes you more than anyone in the world.
"No, I'm fine. I just had to rest for a second."
He raised his pumpkin juice, tapped his glass with hers, and drank.
